Anti-theft or use device for self propelled or stationary engines

ABSTRACT

A series of switches are used to operate a series of electrically operated valves. Some of the valves are normally open and some are normally closed and if the incorrect switches are operated a valve will be moved to its opposite state and thus prevent the flow of fuel to the engine.

United States Patent 1 [191 Gennetten ANTI-THEFT OR USE DEVICE FOR SELFPROPELLED OR STATIONARY ENGINES 221 Filed: Feb. 23, 1971 21 ApplrNo;117,914

[52] US. Cl. 137/384.4, 335/268, 317/136, 317/137, 137/271, 137/552.5,137/613 {51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 35/08 [58] Fleld 0! Search 137/351, 635,384.4, 137/613,614, 271,269, 525.5;317/137, 139;

[ Aug. 28, 1973 1,208,480 12/1916 Casey 137/552.5 X 1,347,833 7/19203,174,502 3/ 1 965 3,512,553 5/1970 1,254,460 l/1918 1,661,190 3/19283,190,608 6/1965 3,311,795 3/1967 3,529,173 9/1970 PrimaryExaminer-J-lenry T. Klinksiek Attorney-Karl W. Flocks [57] ABSTRACT Aseries of switches are used to operate a series of electrically operatedvalves. Some of the valves are normally open and some are normallyclosed and if'the in correct switches are operated a valve will be movedto I its opposite state and thus prevent the flow of fuel to 6 Clllms, 6Drawing Figures [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,587,3562/1952 McPherlon 137/613 2,695,685 11/1954 .lamilon 180/114 X theengine. 2,751,933 6/1956 Urteaga 137/613 X 2,891,577 6/1959 Stewart137/613 X 1 I T 23 I 22 1H1 i L Q I A Y mimtnmzams 3754.565

' sum 1 m 3 I 24 BYJ HQL LQJ LOQKS DELBERT GENNET TEN ATTORNEY rPATENTEUmcze ms 7 sum 3 or 3 5| ZCZLZUH A. ill

S mmm m W 0 man u m Nam w L k H T 5 5 A m m L R l c RP my, 3 w R W m18.250 23m A -NTI 'DH ()Ri USE DEVlCE EORl SELF PROPELILED QR SmA-TIONAR Y ENGINES BACKGROUNINGF T l-IE INVENTION DESCRIPTION QF THE PREFERRED"EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. l"whe"rein' isshown of'the valveThepresentinventiomwasdesigneditmbe'usediaseani 5 tWO mainpartscomprising-thepresenbinvention, ther bypass therdevicesiori'tobrealskits=1cod1b;

AR car aequipped'iwith' ztheisdev-iee'i of the'ipresent iinven tion :can:be; started in the 'usual 'nranner: but it 'will runfortonly=-aashorttimexuntil thescarburetor is emptied of fuel;Nthiefsattemptingqto restart ahertcar-at rthis time by tryingtrdifferentcode i'combinations will run the battery down: after several-i trialsrsince: with the carburetorempty, considerablecrankinggiisnecessary justto refi'll itbefore -thc::enginevwill start lfitlfexrigh't combin'ationis mot found' withimithexfirstrfewitrails; .theibatt'erywill soonbet-too lowrto. crankatheliengine Thus'th'e-Eunauthorizediuse-of 'the.engine; on of 'the sautomobile; .will be" prevented SUMMARM OHTHE'INVENTION 'The rde'vicerofith'erpresentiinventionticomprises a se=rieswof 1 electrically operated inormallya open iandnor mallyaclosedlvalves wh'ich maywbemssem'bled infan y ac:

siredtorder-and 'onlyathe normallyclosed alves"maytbe operatedbymeans ofth'econtrolswitches to ane -me flow ofsfuel =to --th'e engine i An:object :of the present inventi'oni'is :-to--i'p revent.the theftionuseaot self 'propelled: or stationary engines by obstructingtheaflow:of fuel totheaengine witbacontrol thatsiis simple itooperate tyet Idifficult for-an unauthorized user to: circumvent:

' it is a-further object 'of thepresent invention to combiner-a control"assembly :and awalve tiassembly wherein disassembly-of. the-controlassemblyzwill not reve alathe coderthat:mustnbeaused-tooperatexonly-thrcorrectly predetermined. valves tot allowethe flowof-fuel to -the engine.

BRlEFi DESCRl-P'Il0N'-OF THE DRAWINGS Additional v objects andadvantages of-the invention will become.'apparentwuponr t'ullconsideration of the following detailedtdescription and accompanying,drawings in-rwhichz FIG l is'an*elevationxzview of the :overall *devicepartially insection l FlGLLZLis-a perspectiveview of -the:valve assemblyv portion (of 1 the tdevice of' FIG. 1;

-FlG. 3is an enlarged partiallysectioned-view :of a normallyclosedcvalve-shown'in place in FlGs 1;

FIG; 4 =ais=an enlarged a partially 'sectioned view of a normallyopen;valveswshown in place ainwFlfi. l

FIG. .5 *is' a ;side elevations] :viewofthe-valve of either FIG. 3 'orFIG. 4;=*and lG. 6 isan electricallzschematic diagram of the con trolassembly portion of the deviceof-FIG. l

is shown'acontrol assembly lllcorlnected'by cableor' wiring h'amess lrrothe valve'assembly20; The'conti'ol assembly: 10in th'ep'refe'rredembodiment is composed v of a'series'of push"buttons l2 withcnepushbutton 1'2 0 for each-of-the valves 21' in valve assembly 20 Operationof the correct push button 12 will by electrical connection throughcable or wirin'gharn'ess'l l activate solenoid coil 22 mounted abovevalves 21'' and allow fuel to flowtlfroll'ghTuel line 23: Aresevh'oldswitch 13 is included onthe control panel to be used to hold the controlvoltages so th'atthe valves do not have to be reset aftefitheignition'has been turned arr: This'isdbne so *tli'at a 'ca'r can b'eleft in aparking lot and still operated' withoutlinowingjthe code as "to whichpush but ton"should beoperated and in" what order these pushbuttons'should be operated; A" light l t is" provided to remind'a person whenthereset-hold switch" 13 is"in the hold position since-anyone ca'rr'dr'ive'the caraway'when it is-in this-position"or canoperatethe stationary engine', asth'ecase may' be.

FIG.- 2 sh'ows thevalve assembflylo in "a' perspective view thereofas-it "might look when the assemhlyi -for example; in'fan automob'ile.On"op'p0site' side's' offth'e'assembly of valves -21 are located blocks24which] are useda' at each"end= 'of' the* valve assembly 20' to boltthe valve body-21 together "and serve-as the interconnectin'gilinlr'between the fuel line- 23 "and thevalve bodies 213 A cover l9 is placedover and covers the solenoid" coils -22:

Thevalve-assembly'iscomposed'of a series of"normallyopen valves such'asvalve 25 "and normally closed valves suchas valve 2 6 To normally open;fire] rand thorughdines 23," all of the norm'allyclosed valves 26mustbe' open'edand allof the normally open valves2S" must be left open.If one normally closed valve 26 is left closed or one normally openvalve-25 is closed, th'efu'el will beblocked and the engine will stop.The totalnurriber and sequence of these 'valves determines the code forthe device of the present invention. Assume for instance'that there aretwo normally open valves ZSand three normally closed valv'es'26 in thevalve assembly.Assume also that theyare in the following-order: No. '1normally closed, No. 2 normally open, No. 3 hormally*-open,-No.4normally closed," No. 5 normally closed; To operate the engine andthusoperatetheautomobile in which the engine is installed; controlbuttonsl," 4'and 5must be pushed, and only l,- 4*and SITo make it-moredifficultfor an unauthorized person; the

.control inay be wired'to require that push 'button's gl 4' and 5'bepushed in the following sequence 4;"5: I; To operate the engine and theautomobile in which the e'n} gine is installed; one would therefore haveto push but} tons l,- 4;and 5 and push them in proper sequence of 4:5and 1. Any other combination or sequence would fail to operate theengine.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show enlarged views of theass'e'mbly of single valves.

FIGS; 3 and 4 show the assembly of a normally closed,

valve and a normally open valve. respectively and FIG: 5 shows a sideelevational view of either of the valves since the valves arenotdistinguishablefrom each other by their outward appearance.

The assembly of a single valve consists of a valve body 30 which is thesame whether used with the normally closed valve 26 of FIG. 3 or thenormally open valve 25 of FIG. 4. Thus the side elevation view of valvebody 30 as shown in FIG. is applicable to both FIGS.

. 3 and 4. Mounted on valve body 30 is solenoid coil 22 with solenoidshell 31 passing through its center. The bottom portion 32 of solenoidshell 31 fits into the top opening in valve body 30. A plug 33 closes asimilar shaped opening on the bottom of valve body 30.

Valve body 30 is constructed so as to accept either a normally closed ora normally open valve. The normally closed valve with valve stem 34 andhead 35 is installed from the top end before insertion of solenoid shell31. In the normally open valve the valve stem 36 with head 37 isinstalled from the bottom after which plug 33 is inserted in the openingin valve body 30. With the valve stem and head in place the solenoidshell 31 and the plug 33 are press fitted, or otherwise assembled, intothe top and bottom of the valve body 30 respectively. The solenoid coil22 is then fitted over solenoid shell 31. When bolting the single valveassemblies together, they are arranged so that the fuel flows into theupper chamber on the normally closed valve 26 and into the lower chamberon the normally open valve 25 as designated by arrows in the Figures.Energizing a solenoid coil 22 will close a normally open valve 25 oropen a normally closed valve 26.

in the valve body 30 passageway 38 from upper chamber 39 slopes downwardfrom chamber 39 and passageway 41 from lower chamber 42 slopes upwardfrom chamber 42. Both passageways 38 and4l have the center lines oftheir openings on the surface of valve body 30 on the same center linethrough valve body 30 in order to fit to the adjacent valve body whichis placed in a 180 rotated position (or alternatively an invertedposition) from the adjacent valve body as shown in the cutaway of valves25 and 26 of FIG. 1.

Any number of single valve assemblies may be bolted together for acomplete assembly. The combination of normally open and normally closedvalvesmay be var ied to give as many different codes as possible.

The device of the present invention has been illustrated in FIG. 1 witheight push buttons 12 on control assembly for the eight valves in valveassembly 20.

The schematic diagram of FIG. 6 has been drawn to show a controlassembly for eight valves. The schematic is then basically divided intoeight identical sections, except for the hold-reset switch SW1, holdlight PL10, and the steering diodes SDI to SD4. Circuit description willbe given for one of these sections to describe the operation of oneindividual solenoid valve.

When the cars ignition switch is turned on, battery voltage is appliedto one end of the solenoid coil L101. The valve does not operate,however, and the control rectifier CR101 must be turned on to completethe circuit. Control rectifier CR101 is turned on by pushing pushbuttonP8101. This applies a voltage to the gate of control rectifier CR101through voltage dividing resistors R101, R102, and R103. The voltage onthe gate of control rectifier CR101 turns it on completing the circuitthrough coil L101 and diode D101 operating solenoid valve number one.The control rectifier needs only a momentary voltage applied to its gateto turn it on and it then stays on until the anode voltage is removed.This is done by turning the ignition off. in normal operation allcontrol ,rectifiers are turned off when the ignition is turned off. Thismeans that each time the ignition is turned on to start the car the codefor the present device must be set into the control.

Provision has been made so that the code may be held in the controlindependent of the position of the ignition switch. To do this, theignition switch is turned on and the proper code set. The hold-resetswitch SW1 is flipped to the hold position. The ignition can now beturned off and on without operating the device. A hold light PL10 willburn continually when switch SW1 is in the hold position to warn thedriver that the car is not protected by the device.

Turning switch SW1 to the hold position applies a voltage to the anodeof CR101 through diode D10 and resistor R104. This keeps a voltage onthe anode of CR101 when the ignition is turned off preventing controlrectifier CR101 from turning off. Resistor R104 is a current limitingresistor allowing only enough current to flow through control rectifierCR101 to keep it or and prevent excessive drain on the battery. DiodeD10 prevents current flowing from the ignition switch through L101,D102, and lighting hold light PL10 when hold-reset switch SW1 is open.Diode D102 prevents excessive voltage being developed across L101 whenignition is turned off.

Steering diodes SDI to SD4 are used to set in switching sequence of thepush button control. An example of operation is as follows. Connectingthe cathode of diode SD4 to the anode of control rectifier CR801 and theanode of SD4 to the common point of R603 and R602 makes it impossible toturn on CR601 after CR801 has been turned on. Turning on CR801 firstshorts any current from the common point of R603 and R602 through CR801,thus preventing any voltage from being applied to the gate of CR601.This makes it necessary to turn on CR601 before turning on CR801. Thesteering diodes can be wired in to accomplish any desired sequence ofoperation desired.

- Push buttons 12 are spring loaded so that they will always return totheir normal position when released. This is done so that they will inno way reveal the code which is used to operate the appropriatevalvesuThe code must bereset into the control when the ignition switchis again turned on and the above sequence of operations described inconnection with FIG. 6 again takes place.

Further advantages of the device of the present invention lie in the useof the solid state circuitry wherein it is quite difficult to determinethe sequence of the normally open and normally closed valvesand inaddition once the valves have been assembled it is very difficult todetermine which are normally open and which are normally closed sinceall valve bodies have the same exterior appearance. i

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes willbe made without departing from the scope of the invention and theinvention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in thedrawings and described in the specification.

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cutoff device comprising a plurality of serially connectedvalves including at least one normally closed valve, and g at least onenormally open valve,

each of said at least one normally closed valve and each of said atleast one normally open valve having menns to operate said valveincluding a solenoid coil mounted on said valve to move said valve fromits normal position;

a switching means operated from a control panel and connectedelectrically to said solenoid,

a voltage divider in series with said switching means,

a control rectifier with a gate electrode connected to an intermediatepoint on said voltage divider and its anode connected to said solenoid;

power supply means connectedto the anode of said control rectifierthrough said switching means;

and ignition switch means connected to said power supply means in serieswith each of said switching means.

2. The fuel cutoff device of claim 1, further characterized by therebeing at least two. normally closed valves, and

at least one diode having its cathode connected to said anode of saidcontrol rectifier of one of said operating means of said normally closedvalves and its anode connected to another intermediate point on saidvoltage divider of another one of said operating means of another ofsaid normally closed valves whereby a sequence of operation isdetermined.

3. The fuel cutoff device of claim 1' further characterized by a holdingswitch means to retain switching means settings when said ignitionswitch means is shut ofi,

said holding switch means connected to said power supply. means inparallel with said ignition switch means.

4. A full cutoff device comprising y a plurality of serially connectedvalves including at least one normally closed valve, and at least'onenormally open valve,

both said normally closed valve and said normally open valve. presentingsimilar outer appearances,

each of said at least one normally closed valve and each of said atleast one normally open valve having means to operate each said valveincluding solenoid means positioned to move each of said valvesindividually from its normal position, a switching means operated from acontrol panel and connected to said solenoid means,

said plurality of valves having a continuous open passage through all ofsaid plurality of valves upon operation of said switching means tooperate said solenoid means only to each of said at least one normallyclosed valve,

power supply means and ignition switch means connected in series witheach of said switching means.

5. The fuel cutoff device of claim 4, further characterizedby each ofsaid valves having a similar shaped valve body, I

said valve body having an upper chamber and a lower 'chamber connectedto each other,

a downward sloping passageway connecting to said lower chamber-from oneside of said valve body,

' an upward sloping passageway connecting to 'said upper chamber fromthe other side of said valve body,

said passageways having openings to the opposite sides of saidvalve'body on the same center line through said body. 6. The fuel cutoffdevice of claim 5, further characterized by a valve head positioned insaid upperchamber of said normally open valve, and a valve headpositioned in said lower chamber of said normally open valve. I t i

1. A fuel cutoff device comprising a plurality of serially connectedvalves including at least one normally closed valve, and at least onenormally open valve, each of said at least one normally closed valve andeach of said at least one normally open valve having menns to operatesaid valve including a solenoid coil mounted on said valve to move saidvalve from its normal position; a switching means operated from acontrol panel and connected electrically to said solenoid, a voltagedivider in series with said switching means, a control rectifier with agate electrode connected to an intermediate point on said voltagedivider and its anode connected to said solenoid; power supply meansconnected to the anode of said control rectifier through said switchingmeans; and ignition switch means connected to said power supply means inseries with each of said switching means.
 2. The fuel cutoff device ofclaim 1, further characterized by there being at least two normallyclosed valves, and at least one diode having its cathode connected tosaid anode of said control rectifier of one of said operating means ofsaid normally closed valves and its anode connected to anotherintermediate point on said voltage divider of another one of saidoperating means of another of said normally closed valves whereby asequence of operation is determined.
 3. The fuel cutoff device of claim1, further characterized by a holding switch means to retain switchingmeans settings when said ignition switch means is shut off, said holdingswitch means connected to said power supply means in parallel with saidignition switch means.
 4. A full cutoff device comprising a plurality ofserially connected valves including at least one normally closed valve,and at least one normally open valve, both said normally closed valveand said normally open valve presenting similar outer appearances, eachof said at least one normally closed valve and each of said at least onenormally open valve having means to operate each said valve includingsolenoid means positioned to move each of said valves individually fromits normal position, a switching means operated from a control panel andconnected to said solenoid means, said plurality of valves having acontinuous open passage through all of said plurality of valves uponoperation of said switching means to operate said solenoid means only toeach of said at least one normally closed valve, power supply means andignition switch means connected in series with each of said switchingmeans.
 5. The fuel cutoff device of claim 4, further characterized byeach of said valves having a similar shaped valve body, said valve bodyhaving an upper chamber and a lower chamber connected to each other, adownward sloping passageway connecting to said lower chamber from oneside of said valve body, an upward sloping passageway connecting to saidupper chamber from the other side of said valve body, said passagewayshaving openings to the opposite sides of said valve body on the samecenter line through said body.
 6. The fuel cutoff device of claim 5,further characterized by a valve head positioned in said upper chamberof said normally open valve, and a valve head positioned in said lowerchamber of said normally open valve.